If the talents showcase in our past event,  “A Night of Italian music” , is not enough, the double bill shall be complete with yet another showcase of even more talents on the evening of 19th November, “A Night of Concertos”, which features the the eminent soloists, both residential and homegrown. Showcasing not only the illustrious concertos but also the wide range of musicianship and instrumentality in display, ranging from violin, flute and harp to oboe and clarinet, substaintially backed by HBSO chamber orchestra batoned by the young and furious Tran Nhat Minh. The evening will open with the Arrival of the Queen of Shebai, the beginning of Act 3 from Handel’s 1748 biblical oratorio Soloon HWV. 67, based upon stories of the wise King Solomon and Queen of Sheba. Sung in English and a tribute to King George II as some claimed, Solomon is the beginning of a wider appreciation of his English language oratorios as he abandonned Italian operas in favor of a devoted English following which remains until today.
Followed is A. Vivaldi’s Concerto for 2 violins in A minor, RV 522 demonstrated through the talent of Tang Thanh Nam and Le Minh Hien. The piece is a a part of the collection L’estro armonico, a 12 concertos for 1,2,3 and 4 violins first published in 1711, which was described by Michael Tabot as “perhaps the most influential collection of instrumental music to appear during the whole of the eighteenth century”.
Flautist Kaoru Kamiishi and harpist Nana Ishizaki are regular performers of recent programs with HBSO orchestra. Kamiishi, who collaborated with many world famous orchestras in the past and former soloist of Opera Duisburg Orchestra and Philharmonisches Orchester Hagen in Germany, will perform with his fellow countrywoman and herself a talented award winning harpist in numerous harp competitions in Japan, Mozart’s K. 299 for flute and harpischord. Not only a beautiful work showcasing the sonic depth capable of each instrument, the work is itself a complete surprise for its combining two then unprecendented instruments, when Mozart was 22, and for being a hilarious anecdote as a failed commission to Duke of Guînes and his daughter.
After the break, audiences will be brought further past to the Baroque period with Concerto for 2 oboes in D major, op. 9 by Tomas Albinoni, performed by Pham Khanh Toan and Kosei Maekawa, a veteran musician and founding member of Tokyo Oriatoria Symphony and decades of experience with many Japanese national orchestras.
The evening will end with the sounds of clarinet with Franz Krommer’s op. 35, Concerto for 2 clarinets in E-flat major. By a highly prolific composer with beautiful works composed for woodwinds, the concerto is notable best for its opening Allegro and the throughout conversations between the two clarinets, as well as the most splendid notes at the final Rondo. The work will be performed by Dao Nhat Quang and Nguyen Tuan Loc.
In its genuine form, Baroque-style chamber music – without over-expressivity and sonic over-abundance – invites audiences to an atmosphere of elegance and sophistication, quieting down life’s hustle bustle effectively.